Lend Me A Tenor is set in September 1934. Saunders, the general manager of the Cleveland
Grand Opera Company, is primed to welcome world famous, Tito Morelli, Il Stupendo,
the greatest tenor of his generation, to appear for one night only as Otello. The
star arrives late and, through a hilarious series of mishaps, is given a double dose
of tranquilizers and passes out. His pulse is so low that Saunders and his assistant
Max believe he’s dead. In a frantic attempt to salvage the evening, Saunders persuades
Max to get into Morelli's Otello costume and fool the audience into thinking he's
Il Stupendo. Max succeeds admirably, but Morelli comes to and gets into his other
costume ready to perform. Now two Otellos are running around in costume and two women
are running around in lingerie, each thinking she is with Il Stupendo.